Since last year ’ s revelation that attackers have compromised SWIFT software of Bangladesh ’ s central bank and used Attack.Phishing it to perform fraudulent transfers worth tens of millions , news about similar attacks – both successful and not – have become a regular occurrence . Attackers usually use banks ’ compromised SWIFT system to send Attack.Phishing information about fraudulent financial transactions , but in attacks Attack.Phishing aimed at three government-owned banks in India , they chose to create fake trade documents such as letters of credit and guarantees . A letter of credit allows the sellers to be sure that they will get paid once they prove that the sold goods have been provided , as the buyer ’ s bank – the institution that issued the letter of credit – is obliged to release the money , even if the buyer is unable to make payment . Bank guarantees are documents that guarantee that the bank will release an agreed-upon sum either to the seller or the buyer in case the other party ultimately can ’ t provide the goods or the cash . A source close to the investigation told Economic Times that there have been no monetary losses or ransom demands as of yet . He or she posits that the hackers were planning Attack.Phishing to use the forged documents to get cash from offshore banks or carry out trade of prohibited or illegal commodities . It ’ s still unknown how the compromises were effected , and it ’ s possible that other Indian banks have been hit as well . The Reserve Bank of India has been notified of the breaches , and it has directed several banks to check whether the trade documents they sent via SWIFT have a match in their core banking system